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A 12 year old Yorkie-Poodle was killed when a black bear bit through his spine.

They are dangerous but we haven't seen one yet. I'll put my Santa bells on my monopod when we go out tomorrow!

Camera and bells on monopod... yeah, that'll do it!

"An East Asheville couple's dog was killed by a black bear Monday evening in the front yard of their home off Tunnel Road.The attack happened at about 7 p.m. on Maple Springs Road, said Steve Baldwin, whose dog Precious died after being bitten by a large bear."

When we first got here in Sylva back in January, I was getting in the habit of letting our Pug out to run during the day for 20 minutes or so. She'd always return. But a month ago I started talking to one of our neighbors who saw a bear in her driveway recently, and she also told me that several cats and a small dog have gone missing over the last year or so, blamed not only on bear, but coyote.

A 12 year old Yorkie-Poodle was killed when a black bear bit through his spine.

They are dangerous but we haven't seen one yet. I'll put my Santa bells on my monopod when we go out tomorrow!

Camera and bells on monopod... yeah, that'll do it!

"An East Asheville couple's dog was killed by a black bear Monday evening in the front yard of their home off Tunnel Road.The attack happened at about 7 p.m. on Maple Springs Road, said Steve Baldwin, whose dog Precious died after being bitten by a large bear."

That's about 10 minutes from our house.

I'm wondering, was the bear hungry, or did it feel threatened by the little dog barking at it? Why WOULD a bear kill a dog, anyone know?

If you read the story and watch the video you can see that the bear had been into the neighbor's trash can (folks should get the bear proof cans if they're in bear country) and the man said that he had to get his other dog and the neighbor dog away from the bear. So I'd say that the real story was that the 3 dogs were all barking and nipping at the bear and it was just protecting itself. Coyotes are much more likely to kill a pet since they will eat them whereas bears are mainly scavenging for scraps or looking for berries, fruit, and grubs.

We live in east AVL (near Evergreen School) and bears in our 'hood are pretty much a weekly occurence in the summer months. Hence, we keep our trash can in the garage and check before darting out the front/back doors at dawn/dusk. I had one hanging around my front porch one evening last year. Nothing there to entice his presence either. Just curious, I guess.

Up until recently (I enforced the leash law...), my favorite ditzy neighbor had two Dachshund dogs that used to run amuck 24/7 -- they'd chase cars and the bear within heel nipping distance!

I tried explaining this to my neighbor, but she has lived in this neighborhood 15 years longer than us and seems to think differently.

She cried when I told her it's the law and I would enforce it for the safety of her dogs and overall peaceful atmosphere for the neighborhood. She proceeded to tell me that her dogs were a "warning system" to her children when the bear was present in the neighborhood.

Bear killed a 50 lb goat in the same part of town today. Witness said the bear easily picked it up in its mouth then stood on its hind legs.

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